Faculty Profiles

Michael A. Woronoff

Michael Woronoff teaches Venture Capital and the Start-Up Company. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Purdue University (1982), and his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan (1985), where he was Notes Editor of the Journal of Law Reform and the recipient of the Emmett E. Eagan award.

Mr. Woronoff is a Partner at Proskauer Rose, LLP, head of the firm's Los Angeles office, co-head of the global Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Groups, and a member of the firm's Executive Committee. Prior to joining Proskauer, Mr. Woronoff co-founded, and was a principal of, Shelter Capital Partners, a Southern California based private equity fund.

Mr. Woronoff is a frequent author and lecturer on a variety of corporate and securities law topics. Among other things, he has authored or co-authored: “Random Thoughts on Private Equity Practice,” in Deal Strategies for Venture Capital and Private Equity Lawyers; “Effective vs. Nominal Valuations in Venture Capital Investing,” 2 NYU Journal of Law & Business 199 (2005); “Understanding Anti-dilution Provisions in Convertible Securities,” 74 Fordham Law Review 129 (2005); and “Confidentiality,” in Negotiating and Drafting Contract Boilerplate. He also writes frequently on teaching transactional law. His articles include “What Law Schools Should Teach Future Transactional Lawyers,” UCLA School of Law, Law-Econ Research Paper No. 09-17 (available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1430087), “Teaching Numeracy,” Tennessee Journal of Business Law (available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1833882), and “Using a Venture Capital Class to Teach Transactional Skills,” Tennessee Journal of Business Law (available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1292477).

Mr. Woronoff has been nationally recognized by leading legal and business publications as one of the top corporate lawyers in the nation. Of the more than 2,000 lawyers ranked by Chambers USA, he is the only practicing corporate lawyer acknowledged as a leader in five separate categories. He was named the 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” for Corporate Law in Los Angeles by The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes only a single lawyer in that category. In 2015, the Daily Journal named him one of the “Top 100 Lawyers in California” for the fourth time, and in 2014 it named him a “Top 10 California Private Equity Lawyer.” In 2013, Law360 named him one of five “MVPs in Private Equity.” He has also been selected by Lawdragon as one of the 500 Leading Dealmakers in America and one of the 500 Leading Lawyers in America.